Breaking and Entering
by serendipitous-15
Summary: Locks have never been much of a deterrent to Ziva


**NCIS belong to Don Bellisario and CBS, I'm just borrowing them for the moment.**

_So I found this sitting on my hard drive, it's something different for me and after some debate decided to post it.  
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_Setting: Say early season seven_**, **_around the time of 7x09 'Child's Play'_

_Spoilers: General spoilers to 2x22 'SWAK", 6x22 'Legends, Part 1', 6x23 'Legends, Part 2', 6x24 'Semper Fidelis', 6x25 'Aliyah', 7x01 'Truth or Consequences', 7x02 'Reunion'_

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The cold nip in the November air greeted Ziva when she stepped out of her car and she pulled her scarf a bit tighter as she hurried towards NCIS and was grateful for the warmth that greeted her once she entered the building. She smiled at Henry, the security guard, before making her way to the elevator.

"Hello, McGee," she said smiling at her team mate.

"Hey, Ziva, cold morning, isn't it?"

"Yes, they say that tonight will be colder and I think that I will have to turn on my heat then."

They continue with their conversation as they step out of the elevator and head towards their area of the squad room, they arrive to hear the tail end of Gibbs' phone conversation.

"—Take care of yourself, call if you need anything, I mean, DiNozzo," he said before placing the phone down.

"Boss?" asked McGee as he put his stuff down.

"DiNozzo's out sick so we're a man down today," Gibbs replied before sitting down at his desk.

McGee nodded, it's not like Tony getting sick this time of year was anything new, ever since he caught the plague Tony tended to get hit hard by the flu at least once during the flu season and would be out for about a week.

"Is he alright?" asked Ziva from her desk.

"It's nothing he can't handle," Gibbs replied. "Don't you two have some paperwork to do?"

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"Go home people, it's late," ordered Gibbs. They had caught a case shortly after lunch, it was a fairly easy case and for that they were extremely grateful, it was always harder when they were down a man.

"Night, Boss!" McGee called over his shoulder.

Ziva looked at the clock on her computer and was pleased to see that it wasn't too late; she'd have enough time to make a quick stop before going home for the night. She was gathering her things for the night when Gibbs dropped a piece of paper on her desk. Curious she picked up the piece of paper and wrinkled her brow at the series of numbers on it. She looked at Gibbs puzzled, why did he give her this piece of paper and what did the numbers mean?

"He changed his security code," Gibbs said simply before heading off somewhere, probably to get some more coffee.

Ziva pocketed the piece of paper and made the trip to her destination in silence. Stopping her car she sat and stared at the familiar townhouse. If it had been a year ago she would have just gone right in but things had changed between them, especially after the incident with Rivkin and what had happened in Somalia. She was no longer a welcome guest in his home and she knew that but he was still her partner and she was still allowed to worry about him when he was sick. Decision made she got out of her car and quickly looked around before she took out her lock picks once at the front door. After a few minutes she heard the satisfying sound of the lock releasing. Glancing around quickly she saw no one and quickly slipped into the foyer where she quickly disabled the security system with the code that Gibbs had provided her. Once she was satisfied that the security system was disabled she proceeded to explore the cozy townhouse. There was nothing really different about the townhouse but it was neat, very neat, Tony had never been a slob but he had never been so impeccably neat either, perhaps he had hired a maid again. Bypassing the dark living room she made her way upstairs to the master bedroom.

Upstairs she found Tony passed out, sheets a tangled mess. She frowned when she heard the slight wheezing that could clearly be heard over the low hum of the air purifier, ever since the plague Tony would sometimes be prone to wheezing in his sleep, even when he was completely healthy, and it would always be worse and more pronounced when he was sick. Walking towards the bed so that she was standing next to his head she looked down at her sleeping partner and a small smile graced her lips; Tony always did look younger when he slept. Unable to resist she ran a hand gently through his hair frowning at how warm he felt, it looked like he would be out for the rest of the week. The digital clock next to his bedside read nine pm, it was late and she should really be leaving soon but she didn't want to. This was the first time in nearly eight months that she and Tony were able to be in the same room without an uncomfortable tension falling over them, Ziva chose to ignore the fact that reason for that was that Tony was currently unconscious and had no idea that she had broken into his house and was currently standing in his bedroom. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that the humidifier was low on water so she disappeared to the kitchen to fill it back up. Once she returned she replaced the humidifier and then gently untangled the sheets from Tony and smoothed them around him.

"Perhaps one day we can go back to how we were," she said quietly as she stared down at Tony. "Laila tov, Tony," she said as she ran a hand through his hair one last time.

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The next week when Tony returned to them paler and weighing less he found a cup of chamomile tea and his favorite chocolate bar waiting for him on his desk.


End file.
